Chapter 226: Fierce Battle

The scene filled with dust and smoke only lasted for a moment. In the next second, an extremely shrill roar echoed through the sky—it was the sound of the Underworld King Snake.

No one knew exactly what kind of attack it had suffered, but its entire body flew out as if it had gone mad, rolling wildly on the ground.

Zuo Zhicheng thought to himself, “This is bad, it must be a Mind Attack.”

Having a weak Power of Mind and Spirit was the Underworld King Snake’s biggest weakness. Whatever attack it had suffered on its consciousness, the snake was now rolling uncontrollably through the forest, crushing countless trees. No matter how many signals Zuo Zhicheng sent, there was no response at all.

Meanwhile, the Great Strength Diamond Divine Ape stretched out its hands and gave a fierce wave. A visible hurricane swept through the dust and falling snow, clearing away all the surrounding obstacles and revealing the ape’s appearance.

It still looked spirited and showed no signs of serious injury. As for the Green Frost Sword stuck in its back, it casually pulled it out and tossed it to the ground.

Then, a wave of intense heat radiated from its body, causing the surrounding snow to steam and melt. It was shaking and flexing its muscles, generating heat to counteract the extreme cold of the frozen ice inside.

As it moved, the purple, frozen flesh around its wound revived. But just as Zuo Zhicheng stared intently at it, the Great Strength Diamond Divine Ape glanced back deeply. With a surge of its back muscles, it spat out a foul-smelling mass of blood.

Zuo Zhicheng frowned tightly at the sight—that was the chemical poison he had applied to the Green Frost Sword. He never expected the enemy to have such control over its body that it could expel the poisoned blood by flexing its muscles and stirring its internal organs.

‘What a pity. I still don’t have the means to refine radioactive toxins. If I did, no matter how strong its physical control, it would surely die.’

After spitting out the poison, the ape’s back muscles twisted again, and the split wound closed up as if nothing had happened.

With just a few simple movements, Yama Holy Son displayed his heaven-defying powers, which dominated three regions and made him seem like a god.

Seeing the Great Strength Diamond Divine Ape, which appeared completely unscathed after their full-force attack—looking exactly as it had when it first appeared—both Zuo Zhicheng and He Zizai had extremely grave expressions.

The Great Strength Diamond Divine Ape, however, smiled. In the next moment, the golden fur all over its body began to twist and writhe as if it were alive—and indeed it was. Under Yama Holy Son’s control, every pore and every hair root on the divine ape’s body twisted forcefully, causing its fur to move.

Within seconds, the golden fur wrapped tightly around the giant ape’s body like a suit of clothing, revealing the rock-like, bulging muscles beneath.

Now, the Great Strength Diamond Divine Ape looked as if it were wearing a suit of golden armor, causing both Zuo Zhicheng and He Zizai to furrow their brows deeply.

“You two truly haven’t disappointed me. I must say, within the entire Shadow Corps, your Martial Arts talent is the highest. Given enough time, you might even have a chance to reach the Dharma Aspect. You are certainly qualified to be refined into my External Incarnation.”

As Yama Holy Son spoke, Zuo Zhicheng narrowed his eyes more and more tightly, until they were almost slits, shooting out glimmers of cold light.

Through his Infrared Vision, the changes in heat and the flow of energy throughout the Great Strength Diamond Divine Ape’s body were completely exposed.

Suddenly, he shouted in a low voice, “Now!”

“He’s injured! He’s stalling for time!”

With that shout, Zuo Zhicheng’s figure shifted amid swirling light and shadow, turning into a shadow that hugged the ground as it shot toward the feet of the Great Strength Diamond Divine Ape.

On the other side, although He Zizai didn’t know how Zuo Zhicheng had figured it out, it was easy to reason that given the Underworld King Snake’s weight and strength, even the Great Strength Diamond Divine Ape couldn’t have emerged completely unscathed after taking a direct hit.

So the moment Zuo Zhicheng shouted, the snow beneath He Zizai’s feet melted and sank, leaving a large crater. He himself burst forward like a hurricane, making explosive sounds as he charged at the Great Strength Diamond Divine Ape with the Heartscape of the Eight-Armed Demon.

In that instant, he and Zuo Zhicheng attacked from two directions—one turned into a formless shadow, slipping toward the Great Strength Diamond Divine Ape’s feet, while the other shook his muscles and bones, causing booming waves of air explosions. One was extremely soft and subtle, the other intensely hard and forceful, combining into a blend of hard and soft as they closed in on Yama Holy Son at the center.

“Seeking death.”

Facing their assault, Yama Holy Son once again displayed the strength that had allowed him to dominate three regions and be worshipped as a god by mortals.

He curled one hand, and in that moment, the bones and skin of his palm became incredibly supple, like a mass of water, with all joints seeming to vanish. He directed this palm toward He Zizai, who had eight arms.

At the same time, as Zuo Zhicheng used Shadow Realm Void Flash to slip behind his calf in the blink of an eye, Yama Holy Son lifted his foot and stomped down like a battering ram, aiming directly at Zuo Zhicheng. The fierce force of the stomp sucked the air dry, even giving Zuo Zhicheng a momentary feeling of suffocation.

In the next moment, He Zizai’s figure was completely enveloped by the Great Strength Diamond Divine Ape’s palm. No matter how He Zizai shifted and struck with his eight arms, the divine ape easily blocked every move.

He Zizai’s Eight-Armed Demon Heartscape meant that among the eight arms, only two were real—but aside from himself, no one knew which two were genuine amid the constantly shifting arms.

Each punch could be from a real arm or a false one.

Against a human, He Zizai’s Eight-Armed Demon possessed formidable power. But facing the Great Strength Diamond Divine Ape, whose palm alone was half the size of his body, He Zizai’s attacks were too easily blocked.

Even when blocked, the Power of Mind and Spirit still invaded through the arms. Whether the punches were real or false, each one caused intense vibration within the divine ape’s body. The shaking grew more and more severe with each hit, until it would eventually shatter the target.

Unlike Zuo Zhicheng’s cold energy, He Zizai’s Power of Mind and Spirit caused vibrations.

However, He Zizai, who was trading fierce blows with the Great Strength Diamond Divine Ape, was not faring well either. His face turned deep red, and blood streamed from his ears, nose, and mouth. It seemed likely that he would be shaken to death by the ape’s overwhelming force before his own vibrations could kill the ape.

While explosive sounds of air shaking and muscle contractions continued between He Zizai and the Great Strength Diamond Divine Ape,

Zuo Zhicheng didn’t even glance at the leg stomping toward him like a battering ram. Instead, he used another Shadow Realm Void Flash. His shadow slid swiftly, arriving behind the ape’s other foot.

This time, an infinitely bright glow lit up on his hand. The Divine Light Sword, carrying immense light and heat, stabbed fiercely toward the vital point at the Great Strength Diamond Divine Ape’s knee.